


Uncle Andy Ties the Knot

by Leahelisabeth (fortheloveofcamelot)



Series: Twinyards Appreciation Week [19]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: M/M, Pranks and Practical Jokes, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Wedding Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-09
Updated: 2019-11-09
Packaged: 2021-01-26 06:56:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21370018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fortheloveofcamelot/pseuds/Leahelisabeth
Summary: Aaron looked in the mirror and straightened his tie one last time.  The orange colour was absolutely ghastly.  Neil’s idea, of course.  And the asshole had gotten Aaron’s daughters on his side making it a done deal.“Are you nervous?” he asked, meeting Andrew’s eyes in the mirror.“About what?” Andrew asked, raising an eyebrow in cool boredom.“Well, I’d think twice about tying myself to Josten for all eternity,” Aaron teased.For day 7 of Twinyards Appreciation Week: Sweet Tooth
Relationships: Aaron Minyard & Andrew Minyard, Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Series: Twinyards Appreciation Week [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/858608
Comments: 22
Kudos: 355
Collections: Twinyards Appreciation Week 2019





	Uncle Andy Ties the Knot

Aaron looked in the mirror and straightened his tie one last time. The orange colour was absolutely ghastly. Neil’s idea, of course. And the asshole had gotten Aaron’s daughters on his side making it a done deal.

“Are you nervous?” he asked, meeting Andrew’s eyes in the mirror.

“About what?” Andrew asked, raising an eyebrow in cool boredom.

“Well, I’d think twice about tying myself to Josten for all eternity,” Aaron teased.

Andrew shrugged. “It’s a little late for second thoughts now.”

“Not too late until you’ve got the ring on your finger,” Aaron joked.

“This is for everyone else,” Andrew said. “We made our decision years ago.”

Aaron forgot whatever he was about to say at this raw honesty from Andrew. He turned around to face his brother. “I just remember how nervous I was when it was my turn. I mean, I knew what I wanted. I was sure that Katelyn was the woman I wanted to marry. But fuck, standing at that altar is one of the most terrifying things I have ever experienced.”

“Would you still have married her if you knew how it would end?” Andrew asked, eyes boring into him.

“God, yes,” Aaron laughed even as his heart squeezed painfully in his chest. “Those seven years I spent married to her...I wouldn’t trade them for anything. And can you imagine a world without Mandy and Rebecca?”

“Then you understand,” Andrew said.

They were interrupted by a knock on the door. Aaron opened the door to see an apologetic Dan. Two little blonde whirlwinds in bright orange tulle and lace darted past her knees.

“Uncle Andy, do I look pretty?” Mandy twirled around at top speed for a few rotations. When she stopped, she tipped over and Andrew had to catch her shoulders to steady her.

“You are tied for the most beautiful flower girl I have ever seen.” Andrew knelt at her side so she could hug him tightly around the neck.

“Tied?” Mandy asked indignantly.

“With your sister of course,” Andrew said. 

Mandy pouted but didn’t argue.

“Uncle Andy, can you fix my hair?” Rebecca asked. Her bangs were pulled tightly back from her forehead and secured with a giant orange hair bow. Andrew gently loosened the bow and pulled out a few strands of hair at her temples where the tension would give her a headache.

“Better?” he asked. 

Rebecca nodded. It was less likely the bow would last through pictures but it was better than letting her get a headache.

“Where’s Uncle Neil?” Mandy asked. “He wanted to see my bow.”

“It’s bad luck to see us before the wedding!” Rebecca scolded her sister. “Uncle Matt told me.”

Aaron chuckled. “I think that’s just for brides.”

“Nuh-uh,” Rebecca said. “It’s for the whole family. Because Neil is marrying all of us.”

Andrew choked, face turning red. “I’m going to kill Matt.”

“But Uncle Neil is really going to be a part of our family after this, right Daddy?” Mandy asked.

“Yes, of course. But the only one he is marrying is Uncle Andy,” Aaron said, unsuccessfully reining in his laughter.

“Good. Uncle Neil said once he moves in he’s gonna teach me to play Exy!” Mandy cheered and took up a striker stance, holding her little bouquet like a racquet.

“Not a chance,” Andrew muttered. “One junkie is bad enough.”

Someone knocked on the door again and Andrew straightened, looking in the mirror, the first hint of nerves etching his face.

Aaron came up beside him and nudged him. “Hurry up or we’ll be late.”

The only ones actually walking down the aisle were Mandy and Rebecca. They took their time with it too, blowing kisses to the camera, throwing extravagant handfuls of orange flower petals that clashed horribly with the red carpet, and altogether stealing the show.

While everyone was focused on the twin girls and their antics, Aaron and Matt entered on either side of the stage, followed by Andrew and Neil.

Aaron watched as Andrew and Neil stood in front of each other and joined hands. He well remembered how much he had hated Neil Josten when they first met. But he had seen his brother go from the medicated monster who felt nothing, loved nothing, to the person who melted every time his nieces called his name, and willingly wore pink and glitter because they asked. He had been their rock when they lost their mother, and held them when they cried. He had created the Mac and Cheese game when they wanted to learn how to cook. A huge part of that was just Andrew and his fierce love and loyalty for his family. But there was also the part of Andrew’s heart that had only been unlocked when he gave Neil the key.

Andrew and Neil had written their own vows but just to be contrary, they spoke them only to each other and Aaron could only pick up scattered words...key...amazing...home...family. It didn’t matter. There wasn’t a dry eye in the place as Neil leaned close, eyes locked with Andrew’s, Andrew’s hand clasped around the back of his neck.

The justice of the peace, Harvey, led them through exchanging the rings and with trembling hands, Andrew cupped Neil’s scarred cheeks and pulled him in for the softest kiss.

Mandy tugged on Andrew’s jacket and stage whispered, “Is it time?”

Andrew grinned and nodded.

Mandy stepped to the front of the stage and pulled out a single sheet of paper with words scribbled on it in her clumsy handwriting.

“Uncle Andy is the best uncle ever. He makes us Mac and Cheese and he built my cozy tent. Uncle Neil is also pretty cool. He’s gonna teach me to play Exy and he told me how to get rid of a body.”

Aaron facepalmed. There were a lot of camera phones pointed at his daughter but she continued on, completely oblivious to the chuckles in the audience and her father’s red face.

“But the best thing about Uncle Neil is that he makes Uncle Andy happy. He smiles all the time when Uncle Neil comes to visit and he’s grumpy and needs lots of snuggles when he goes back to play Exy. So I’m glad that they got married because now Uncle Andy is going to be happy all the time. Welcome to the family, Uncle Neil.” Mandy reached into her flower girl basket and pulled out a gigantic glitter bomb, letting it fly all over Andrew, Neil, and Harvey.

The whole room went quiet and still. Mandy shrieked with laughter and high tailed it back down the aisle. 

Andrew was the first to recover and chased after her. “I said no glitter bomb, you little monster!”

Neil collapsed to a sitting position on the stage, howling with laughter.

“Er, let me introduce Mr and Mr Minyard-Josten?” The justice said weakly.

* * *

Aaron had managed to stay out of the blast radius so as the least glittery of the wedding party, it was up to him to make the announcements and get everyone moving toward the reception hall while the two grooms got cleaned up. He slipped the justice an extra hundred bucks and apologized profusely.

“It’s fine. I’ve got daughters too,” Harvey chuckled. “But mine were in the foster system for about ten years before they came to us. Let me tell you, they never would have pulled something like that when they first came to us. They had been abused and were barely able to speak to me. I was incredibly relieved the first time my oldest played a prank on me, stuck a whoopie cushion in my chair of all things, because I knew she finally felt safe. That’s a little girl who feels safe in your home and in your family. I mean, I do think you should give her a talk about boundaries. A wedding is maybe not the most appropriate place for such pranks. But you’re a good father, Aaron. Anyone can see that.”

Suddenly, embarrassingly, Aaron felt himself tearing up. Usually what he heard from people outside the Palmetto circle was that his girls were too rambunctious, that he needed to get them under control, that they would never grow up normal without a feminine influence, and for a complete stranger to see the heart of it, it was almost too much. “Thank you,” he said hoarsely.

“Look, I know where the vacuum is. I’ll take care of the glitter. Go spend time with your family. That’s what this day is all about.” Harvey clapped him firmly on the shoulder.

Aaron didn’t argue. 

Andrew and Neil were late to their own reception. They showed up, flushed, hair still wet from the shower, dark purple bruise on Neil’s neck that they didn’t even try to cover up.

There was a lot of eye rolling, and a bit more of money changing hands and everyone settled in to eat dinner. It was one of their favourite variations on Mac and Cheese, buffalo chicken tenders with pepperjack, green peppers, and caramelized onions.

Aaron was starting to wish he’d written down his best man’s speech. He’d thought he would remember it but now he was starting to blank.

It came too soon. He stood before the small group of friends and family, champagne glass in hand and it was all too big, everything Andrew had done for him since he lost Katelyn. He had no idea how to communicate that, especially to his brother.

“Uh...I thought this was going to be easier so I foolishly didn’t write anything down. Hopefully I can remember enough of it, so here goes. Andrew and I didn’t have the privilege of growing up together. And when we finally did meet, we were so different and it was hard to find common ground. For a long time, I didn’t understand my brother. I thought he was violent, possibly insane.” Aaron flushed bright red. That had definitely not been in his speech. And Neil was standing, mouth opening, no doubt intending to verbally eviscerate him where he stood.

“Give me a second, Neil. I promise I have a point,” Aaron said. “And the point is...the point is that when I first met Andrew, I thought he pushed me away because he didn’t care about family. And now I know the truth: that for Andrew, family is his top priority, that he would do anything to see his family safe and protected. I didn’t completely understand that until he moved in with me after Katelyn passed away and I got to raise my daughters with him. These last two years, I have seen the very best of my brother. He’s done so much to ensure that my girls know that they are loved. He’s advocated for their education and he’s also played with them. And he was my rock when I almost fell apart. 

“I hated Neil when they first got together. But now I’ve come to see that Neil is also part of his family. That makes him part of mine as well. I’m rambling, I know. And you probably all want me to shut up so we can have cake. But first, I want you to raise your glasses to the best man I will ever know.” Aaron took a sip of champagne and roughly brushed tears out of his eyes.

Andrew stood and came over to him. “You have utterly obliterated my reputation. This is going to happen once and we will never speak of it again.” Andrew pulled him into a short but fierce hug and Aaron hugged him back just as fiercely.

Matt stood. “I don’t really know how to follow that. Maybe just to say that if I had looked at this group all those years ago when we first met, I never would have guessed we would end up here. Neil, you have been many things to me over the years: a teammate, a friend, a son, and now a brother. When I first found out you were dating Andrew, I was super worried about you. We all thought he was this monster and that you didn’t know what you were doing. But it turns out you were a better judge of character than we thought. I am very proud and very happy today to see you marry someone you love. I love you, bro. To Neil Minyard!”

Everyone echoed Matt.

Andrew stood and took the microphone from Matt. “Cake time,” is all he said.

Mandy and Rebecca had been fairly quiet during dinner but they immediately began cheering and ran over to the cake table.

“I want a corner piece!” Mandy shouted. For a second, Aaron was worried they would just start grabbing handfuls of cake but thankfully they kept their hands to themselves.

Andrew and Neil cut the cake together and fed each other bites neatly, following the sweetness of the cake with a chaste kiss.

Andrew took two more bites of cake and knelt down on his nieces level to offer them each a bite of cake. He grinned wickedly and shoved the cake in their faces.

“That was for the glitter,” Andrew said. They laughed, glanced at each other and tackled him to rub their cake covered faces all over his suit.

Nicky had his phone out and was filming the entire thing, though if anyone could hear the girls over Erik’s loud laughter, Aaron would be very surprised.

The party really hit its stride after that. Aaron danced with Renee, Allison, Dan, and even Matt at least once. He also danced with each of his girls in turn. Andrew danced exactly three times all evening. Once with Mandy, once with Rebecca, and once with Neil. The rest of the time, he sat at the table watching everyone with a content look on his face.

It was late by the time the party wound down. Wymack and Abby had already left. Even Nicky had taken off his shoes to air out his blisters and was taking a break from the dancing. Mandy and Rebecca were in a cuddle pile in the corner, out cold. And Neil was yawning huge every few seconds, snuggling his face into Andrew’s neck and Andrew was starting to steer him toward the door.

Aaron knelt down by his girls. “Wake up, sleepyheads. It’s time to go home,” he said softly.

Rebecca sat bolt upright. “Did Uncle Andy and Uncle Neil leave yet?” she asked, face crinkling up like she was about to cry.

“Not yet, but you should hurry if you want to see them before they go,” Aaron said, helping both of them get to their feet.

Aaron caught a glimpse of yet another glitter bomb and Rebecca shot past him and ran toward her two uncles. “Rebecca, wait!” he shouted after her.

It was too late.


End file.
